


Affection Speedrun 0 Damage, No deaths

by SneakySomethingSinister



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Breaking shit, Cuddling, Established Relationship, M/M, Not A Game AU, Oneshot, Post-Canon, Roommates, established relationship is ambiguous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27888931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneakySomethingSinister/pseuds/SneakySomethingSinister
Summary: Benrey acts like a cat, and sometimes it pisses the fuck out of Gordon.Teen for bad words pog
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 10
Kudos: 87





	Affection Speedrun 0 Damage, No deaths

Benrey was… strikingly more similar in nature to that of a cat than Gordon had previously thought was possible. Now, in no way did Gordon believe the other was in any way related to the species, but he felt that spending more time on that train of thought would do more harm to his psyche than he’d prefer. No, instead he settled simply for comparing the attitudes and behaviors of the common house-feline to those of his common house-roommate. Currently, the man was picking stray fibers from a throw pillow on Gordon’s couch, occasionally adjusting his body to maximize both comfort and angle. Normally, Gordon would chalk this display up to boredom, something his roommate exhibited often, however today it was raining, and neither man had gone outside since the day prior. Benrey tended to… act out in situations like this. 

“Hey man.” 

Gordon jumped at the sound. Benrey had gotten up off their old couch and managed to make his way right in front of him. It must’ve been while he had spaced out. Not having had heard his footsteps was mildly concerning, but  _ Still, _ he thinks,  _ kinda’ proving my point. _

Benrey slowly meandered over to the kitchen, to the small peninsula of a counter that held the coffee pot. Barely inches away, he stop[ed and turned to Gordon, his eyes reflected in the light of the hanging lamp. Slowly, he reached his hand out to the side of him, and promptly pushed a small mug off the counter before turning around and grabbing another one to properly fill. 

“ _ Excuse _ me?” Gordon’s voice came out breathy and strained, caught off-guard. “Why… Why did you do that? Why did you think that was in any way appropriate?” He swung his arms violently at the end of his sentence, and his eyes bugged wildly for a moment. 

“Uh… do what?”

Dropping his arms to his side, Gordon looked Benrey in the eyes once more, defeated. “For breaking one of our fucking mugs! We only have so many, Jesus!”

At that, Benrey just shrugged, blowing a strand of dark hair out of his face, and walked back in the direction of the couch with his drink. The smokey scent of coffee beans wafted in his wake, and the sound of breaking ceramic rung in the air. Gordon felt a slight twitch in his right eye. He dragged his feet to the hall closet and grabbed the old, butterfly-themed broom that Benrey insisted they get for the apartment. He insisted to Gordon that having it would provide a “piece of his own pizzaz that would help attain a balanced relationship between the two.” Sparkly broom in hand, Gordon found a place standing next to Benrey at the end of the couch, and lightly jabbed him with the coarse bristles. “Clean it up, asshole. You did it.” He stayed firm and still, eyes trained on the wild, jet black locs of the other’s turned head. The action had startled Benrey, and he swiped at the boom as he turned around, his nails, despite their unusually sharp nature, did little damage, as Gordon had the appliance in an iron-clad grip, waiting to hand it over, but not completely without regard for how unpredictable the other would be. They had played this game before. Benrey picked at the pink, plastic bristles and contemplated his response. 

“No.”

Benrey then began to curl in on himself,  _ As if,  _ Gordon thought,  _ he were about to start napping. _ Not on his watch, that motherfucker needed to clean his mess. He quickly reached his hand out and grabbed the top of Benrey’s head. The surprise stopped Benrey from turning around. Instead, he shifted his weight into the touch and brought his gaze back to Gordon. The silence between the two was loud, cut only by the soft squeak of the old, second hand couch as Benrey moved and the gentle scritching of fabric that shifted with his body. 

“Yo, ‘re you tryin’ to scratch my head? Dumbass?” Benrey said; despite speaking in a little over a whisper, the previous quiet atmosphere made it sound deafening. After another moment of silence, Benrey’s voice rose in volume. “Heh… Garfield Freeman likes my hair an’ he wants to pet it re _ eee _ al good ‘cause it’s so soft an’ nice an’ uh… huh, yeah.” A smug grin stood plastered on Benrey’s face, his visage no longer looking as tired as it had before. 

“I-Uh No, dude... what the fuck?” The pinkish hue of his face grew darker red and he pulled back his hand as if it were burned on a stove, but Benrey didn’t move. 

“Come on man, grow a pair and cuddle with your good pal… pwease?” Benrey’s eyes glinted with the pinpricks of crocodile tears, “I’m so lonelyyy… and you were just being so me _ eaannn…  _ trying to get li’l ol’  _ me  _ to clean up broken glass!” Benrey’s face contorted into a twisted version of what one might call puppy dog eyes, but his sharp features and subtle eye bags made him look more like he was melting than frowning. Regardless, the attempt chipped a hole in Gordon’s defenses, and he felt when his body relaxed a bit, weakening his hold on the broomstick handle. 

“It’s a ceramic mug-- Look man, we-uh.. We can watch a movie if you clean the fuck up, okay?” Gordon felt like he was reasoning a hostage situation. 

“How about um.. Bro how about we just do it now. Be-um, Because like what if I got up to go clean… and you, you forgot we were gonna have a bro sesh…That’d be hella cringe, yeah?” Benrey’s dark eyes darted to the side. Gordon noticed his excuse was void of the usual peppered insult or sarcastic and inappropriate advance. Weird?

Gordon sighed, “Fine.” he said, the hint of a smile could be seen just beneath his exasperated expression. He placed the broom down, and it leaned against the stiff fabric of the couch for a few seconds before sliding to the floor with an audible crack. However, neither man paid attention to the sound as Gordon moved his body to sit on the couch’s arm next to his roommate. It was uncomfortable, with his back slouched in an unusual manner akin to that of a scruffy, young hyena. After a few moments, Benrey reached out and gripped the sleeve of Gordon’s thin shirt. The fabric twisted in his fist when he jerked his arm, pulling Gordon down onto the couch with him. Gordon let out a shrill cry as his body fell forward over the lap of the shorter man and bounced them both on the cushions. His glasses squished against his face, and his hair found its way into his eyes and up his nose.

Having processed the incredibly awkward and uncomfortable position the two were in, Gordon quickly scrambled to the next cushion over, curling his legs in on himself to prevent another snarky comment. Sadly, it only encouraged one. “Damn, man. I didn’t think you’d be falling for me this quickly, failman… Or uh.  _ Fall _ man. Luh-mao.” Benrey’s sarcastic tone of voice was familiar to the brunette by now, but something about the almost intimate scene they just had made it seem a bit more genuine. 

_ Or maybe I just hoped… wait.  _ Gordon’s mind raced, and he cringed at the unwelcome thought. 

His wince did not go unnoticed by the pale man beside him. “Yo I see you over there. You think I can’t recognize someone acting fucked? Get over here, shitboy.” Thin arms stuck out at Gordon, and hands playfully grabbed at the air in front of him.

They had been roommates for a while after Black Mesa. In the beginning, they far from got along with each other. Gordon constantly found himself upset with the other because of his tendency to do things with the specific purpose of pissing him off. However, under the terribly difficult-to-decipher outer layer, Gordon found a surprisingly good person in his roommate. Benrey was great with Josh, his son, and he even found himself laughing at the antics he got up to. Suffice to say, they had grown much closer over time. Remembering this, Gordon felt his mind grow at ease with the invitation, but memories of the previous couple minutes played in his head at the same time. Hesitantly, Gordon slid his way into Benrey’s arms. He really didn’t have the energy to stay frustrated over a mug or embarrassed over something that lasted all of three seconds.. The coarse fabric of his sweater paired with Benrey’s soft locs of hair provided an interesting but not unwelcome sensation as Gordon rested his face against his shoulder. Benrey’s chest rose and fell, lulling him into a state of comfort as he synced his own breathing with the other. They could both hear the soft pattering of rain against the window, and as Gordon relished in the serene moment, he felt himself growing tired in Benrey’s arms. His eyes slowly closed and his head sunk deeper into the other man’s shoulder as he drifted off. Through the sleepy haze, he could feel a gentle pressure against the top of his head.

That mug could get swept up in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> my first fic, roast the fuck outta me


End file.
